… While seeking to both conform to and challenge official versions of history on the ideological layer, players must understand the algorithmic layer. As Tom Apperley explains about an earlier Paradox title, Europa Universalis II, “The game does not question the dominant portrayal of the past, rather, it attempts to simulate it. But all that accuracy goes toward representing worlds based on the history we already know. Paradox is noted for its historical accuracy, evidenced in its games’ population by swarms of historical figures, many of whom have handcrafted stats and traits. Yet, although Paradox gets one aspect right-different eras demand different engines-it makes the horrible assumption that the pinnacle of civilization is the modernity of the global North. To build the history of the world into a single game, code, or narrative would be the height of hubris. On the face of it, this sounds promising, even exemplary. Through that space, historical contingency is represented: what was possible, necessary, or impossible in the course of history. In fact, Paradox carefully limits the possibility space of their grand-strategy games. 2 Compared to the Civilization series that uses the same mechanics for the Stone Age and the Space Age, as historian Greg Koabel notes, Paradox games represent those eras differently: “Rather than progressive stages, which share common universal laws of historical change, Paradox developers envision a series of epochs with ‘engines of change’ so distinct as to be impossible to model in a single game code.” 3 As a result, Paradox’s Europa Universalis IV ( EUIV) has an intricate economic system to explain the expansion of European nation-states and colonialism, while Crusader Kings III sees a world ruled by feudal lords, their personal quirks, and their relationships to one another. My experience reflected how the grand strategy games of developer Paradox formulate a historical argument about the periodization of human history: how to break down time into distinct periods, ages, or eras. That’s an odd lesson to learn from Hausa society. If nothing else, I had a new, specific understanding of how European feudalism worked. But as the hours ticked by, I wondered: What exactly was I learning about history through play? My knowledge of geography was improved, but surely that wasn’t all. Through play-that is, of the computer game Crusader Kings III, or CKIII-a fiction turned into solid cartography. I'm using Agree, when I'm agree, I'm using Helpful when it's helpful for me (not as more powerful version of Agree), and I use Respectfully DIsagree when I'm disagree (not when I believe my opponent is a moron).Ĭapacities - alternative for mana system.On my first try, I formed a matriarchal Hausa empire in the central Sahel region of Africa, neatly throwing out hundreds of years of history. If you ever believe (by comments going to mail or any other way) that my editing actually change meaning without proper notification, especially in major way, please, feel free to scold me. I'm doing it because English isn't my native language, and I'm doing a lot of mistakes - not by meaning but by grammar or orphography - that, with thoroughful rereading, I often found and want to edit. You can't declare your understanding of fun as universal one.ĭisclamer: I'm editing my posts often. Please keep in mind that "fun" is subjective. Still, it's a personal opinion, and I can be wrong, and I remember it even when I'm arguing fiercely. Everything written up there is a personal opinion that, I believe, is based on some grounding, and I'm ready to defend this opinion.
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